Railway-gate



(No Model.) 2 sheets-sheet 1.

R. 11. HARTMAN. RAILWAY GATE.

' No. 3455.429 Patented July 13, 1886.

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y (No Model.) V 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

, R. A. HARTMAN.

RAILWAY GATE. No. 345,429. Patented July 13, 1886.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

RUFUS ALBERT HARTMAN, OF BERWICK, PENNSYLVANIA.

RAILWAY-GATE.

SPECIFICATIONlforming part of Letters Patent No. 345,429, dated July 13,1886.

Application filed April 13, 1886.

.To all whom it may concern: Y

Be it known that I, RUFUs ALBERT HART- MAN, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resiv dent of Berwick, in the county of Columbia and Stateof Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inRailway-Gates; and I dohcreby declare that the following is a full,clear, and exact description of the invention, which will enable othersskilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part ofthis specificatiomand in which- Figure l is a perspective view of aportion of a railway-track provided with myimproved gate. Fig. 2 is atop plan view of the sa1ne. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal vertical sectionalview on line x x, Fig. 2; and Figs. 4 and 5 are longitudinal verticalsectional views of the pushrods of the mechanism.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all thegures.

My invention has relation to that class of automatic railway -gateswhich are placed across the track at crossings of roads or streets forthe purpose of preventing cattle or other animals from straying upon thetrack, and for the` purpose ot' preventing any passage upon the trackfrom the crossing; and it consists in the improved construction andcombination of parts of such a gate," which is suitably connected to arail placed parallel with the inner side of one of the rails of thetrack, which rail may be depressed by the lianges of the wheels of apassing train, opening the gates, as hereinafter more fully describedand claimed. y

In the accompanying drawings, the letters A A indicate the rails of thetrack, which rails are secured in the usual manner to the ties B, andarail, (l, having its middle portion higher than its ends, is placedparallel to the inner side of one of the rails of thc'track, in such amanner that it may be engaged by the flanges of the wheels running uponthe said rail and be depressed by the same. The under side of the railis provided with a longitudinal rib, D, which is formed with verticalslots E at intervals, and the slotted portions slide in slots F, formedin blocksG, secured upon the ties, the said slotted blocks having boltsH between the lips formed by the slots, upon which the rail slides withthe slots in its rib. The lower edge of this rib rests at intervals uponcoiled springs l, or similar` springs, which will raise the rail so asto bring its lower ends slightly below the level of the tread of therail, and its raised central portion above the same, so that the flangesof the wheels may run smoothly upon the rail and gradually depress it.Two shafts, J J, are journaled in suitable transverse bearings, K, underthe rails, and the inner ends of these shafts are formed into cranks L,projecting to one side and bearing` with their pins against the loweredge of the rail, so that they may be tilted downward when the rail isdepressed, and the outer ends of these shafts are provided with longarms M and N, projecting upward. The gates are composed of two shafts, OO, journaled in suitable bearings, P P, transversely under the track,and one of Y these shafts is formed with a downwardly-projecting crank,Q, at its outer end, while the other shaft is provided with auupwardly-projecting crank, It, at its end. The gate-shafts have suitableperforations, S, and the inner ends'of the gatepickets, T are insertedinto these perforations, and the two cranks of the gate-shafts areconnected by means of a connecting-rod, U. The lower end of a push-rod,V, is pivoted to the downwardly-projecting gate-crank, and the upper endof this push-rod is hollow, as shown at XV, and provided with a plug, X,in its upper end, which contines a coiled spring, Y, within the hollowportion, and the lower end of this hollow portion is provided with twolongitudinal slots, Z Z, through which the pin of one of theupwardly-projecting arms may project, bearing against the lower end ofthe spring. rod,V A', is pivoted to the upwardly-projecting gate-crank,and projects obliquely in the direction opposite to the incline of theother rod, and this rod has its upper end, B, hollow, and provided witha coiled spring, C, andthe sides of this hollow portion next the upperend of the same are formed with longitudinal slots D', through which thepiu of the other upwardly-projecting arm passes, and in which it slides,bearing against the upper end of the spring. The upper free end of acurved The lower end of another push# IOO fiat spring, E', bears againstthe pin of the said arm and forces it outward away from the oppositepush-rod. It will new be seen that when a train arrives at one of theends of the spring-cushioned bulgcd rail, which ends extend aconsiderable distance from the gates, the said rail will be depressed bythe flanges ofthe wheels, and will depress the inner cranks upon theoperating-shafts. The arms upon the operating shafts will push againstthe springs within the push-rods, and will push or draw the said rods inthe same direction, causing the upwardly-projecting crank upon onegate-shaft and the downwardly-projecting crank upon the other shaft tobe tilted, respectively, downward and upward to the same side, tiltingthe gates toward each other, resting with their pickets upon the tiesand allow ing the train to pass over them. The ends of the pickets maybe bent to allow the gates to be laid flat, with the bent ends restingupon the ties. The flanges of different wheels will be of differentwidths, according to the make of the wheels and to the wear they havesuffered, and for the purpose of allowing for the greater depression bywider flanges the rail may be depressed farther than its normaldepression, and the pins of the rocking arms slide in the slots in thepush-rods bearing against springs, which will allow the arms to betilted to a greater extent than the normal degree of tilting, thesprings being of a suffi' cient stiffness to tilt the gates withoutbeing compressed, so that they will only be compressed when the gateshave been tilted down and the operatingarms are tilted still farther bythe extra depression of the rail. The rod connecting the two cranks ofthe gate-shafts will allow both t-he gates to be tilted if only one endof the rail is depressed, and the flat curved spring bearing against thepin of one of the operating-arms will serve to raise the gates afterthey have been tilted by the passing train.

The gates may be placed at a curve when the rail is curved.

I am aware that railwaygates have hereto fore been operated by means ofa rail parallel with the track, which in turn operated upon transversecrankshafts and push-rods; and also that hollow' push-rods having aspring within them have been used, and I do not claim such construction,broadly; but

I claim and desire to secure by Letters Iatent of the United Statesl. Ina railway-gate, the combination of a spring-cushioned rail placed at theside of one rail of the track, transverse shafts journaled under theends of the spring-cushioned rail, and having cranks at their inner endspointing in the same direction, and bearing, with the upper sides oftheir pins projecting in a horizontal plane, against the under side ofthe rail, arms projecting upward from the outer ends of the shafts, acurved spring bearing under one of the arms, transverse gate-shaftsjournaled under the track, and having cranks at their ends, oneprojecting upward and the other downward, a connecting-rod connectingthe cranks, and push-rods pivoted to the upper ends of the arms and tothe cranks upon the gate-shafts, as and for the purpose shown and setforth.

2. In a railway gate, the combination of blocks havingupwardly-projecting lips with transverse bolts, and secured upon thetics, a rail having a longitudinal' rib upon its under side, slidingwith vertical slots upon the bolts between the lips, and having meansfor operating the gate when depressed, and springs bearing upwardagainst the under side of the rail, said rail being curved'upward, sothat its ends are below and its middle above the top of the track, asand for the purpose shown and set forth.

3. In a railway-gate, the combination of a shaft provided with an arm,and having means for being tilted by a passing train, a push-rod havinga hollow portion with a coiled spring inclosed, and longitudinal slotsin one end ot' the hollow portion, having the pin of the arm passingthrough said slots and bearing against the spring, and means foroperating the gate connected to the end of the push-rod, as and for thepurpose shown and set forth.

4. In a railway-gate, the combination of a rail supported by springsparallel to a rail of the track, transverse shafts at the ends of therail, having horizontally-projeeting cranks at their inner ends bearingagainst the under side of the rail, and having upwardly-projecting armswith laterally-projecting pins at the outer ends, transverse gate-shaftshaving the gate-pickets, and having each a crank at the end, oneprojecting upward and one downward, a rod connecting the cranks, apush-rod having its lower end pivoted to the upwardlyprojecting crank,and `having its upper end hollow, and provided with a spring and withlongitudinal slots for the pin of one arm, bearing against the spring, apush-rod having its lower end pivoted to the downwardly-projectingcrank, and having its upper end hollow and provided with a screw-pluginclosing a spring, and formed with a slot in cach side of the lower endof the hollow portion for the pin of the other arm, which bears againstthe lower end of the spring, and a flat curved spring bearing with itsupper end against one of the pins of the upwardly-projecting arms, asand for the purpose shown and set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereuntoaffixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

RUFUS ALBERT HARTMAN.

XVitnesses:

J. F. CHAMBLIN, MINOR HARTMAN.

IOC

